Category / House

Yes, they are finally done and we couldn’t be more thrilled – both that they’re done (ha!) and with how fabulously they turned out!

You can read more about our initial idea to build bookcases, as well as our progress with some step-by-step photos here, here, here, here, and here.

Naively, I thought this would originally be a two or three-weekend project, done within the month. Let’s just say I have a whole new level of appreciation for just how much planning/measuring/supply-shopping/trimming/new tool-learning/testing/floor-cutting/priming/painting/drying/re-measuring/touching up/assembling is involved! And to do it right, having never done it before, it took a little longer than expected.

Throw in that during the bookcase progress we were also tackling landscaping, bedroom-updating, my office, canvas-painting, lawn maintenance, planning a garage sale, redesigning our closet, and just living life in general OUTSIDE the house…yeah, I’m good with our timeline and pleased these got done as “soon” as they did. 🙂

From where we last left off, Page cut several more pieces of trim…let me just pause there for time lapse emphasis…cutting trim is WAY more involved than I ever imagined. Lots of very precise math and angles and getting it JUST right.

Some of the trim pieces came already primed (major YAY at this point!) but all needed a couple coats of paint. We added the trim pieces, then sealed the seams and touched up nail holes.

Finally, I was on the fence but decided the whole shebang needed one final coat of paint to smooth everything out. And then of course because I rushed and didn’t tape off, I had to go back with a small brush and our grey paint to touch up the walls where I got outside the lines. 🙂 We gave them 24 hours to fully dry…

…and voila!

It’s so nice to see the added architectural interest in the room, AND to have additional storage for all of the stuff that will go in here. I will be able to fit many dishes, ALL of our books/albums, DVD collection, our stash of blankets, and some decorative pieces all in these bookcases. Soooo happy! Back very soon with some better shots (on a camera other than my phone!) of them being put to use! 🙂

One of my favorites spots in the house to decorate has been my office. It’s an area completely my own and I can do whatever I like to the space and don’t have to run anything past my other half (who recently shot down my longing for a hot pink coffee table when we finish the basement…I’m dead serious…but I suppose it’s understandable he’s not exactly on board).

Anyway…

The final piece for my office literally wouldn’t fit in the car during our last Ikea expedition. So without a long list of other items to pick up, we made a day trip up to the yellow and blue heaven store in Minneapolis and brought home the chair and ottoman I’ve been waiting for!

I love having a comfy spot to sit by the window and read, but I also like having a place for Page to sit. We often come into each others’ offices when the other is hard at work on a project. I sprawl out on the couch in his office and chat with him about the project or anything else that is going on. I feel like now that there’s a spot for him, he’ll be more likely to swing by my digs from time to time while I’m working. It seems like a small thing, but it helps us both continue to get work done in our freelance business, but also spend time together.

Did I mention the ottoman has storage? Always a score for me. In this case, I’m using the space to stash all of my gift wrap supplies. Minus a few rolls of paper in the closet, everything else from ribbons to tissue and gift bags to on-hand gifts fits in here.

The last thing to do in here is to find a way to add some *bling* to these letters. I would like to cover them in some kind of shiny coin or round sequin object. We’ll see what Hobby Lobby has in store for me.

Otherwise, I’m feeling like this space is complete.

I’m sure I’ll keep tweaking the details, but it’s so nice to have this room checked off my list!

Page and I had long planned on putting a cool quote in the front entry to greet guests coming through the front door. We also liked that it would be in a spot we, ourselves, would pass by each day. But to be placed center stage, the quote had to be a really good one; nothing cliche, and nothing we’d get bored with quickly. Page originally joked that we should put up a Notorious B.I.G. quote…he was totally kidding. (For anyone not familiar, B.I.G. was a progressive and well-respected rap artist who was killed in the late ’90s.)

After narrowing down the list of phrases that would fit this space, I stumbled upon this site – every day, the author of this blog posts a song lyric submitted by a reader. I combed through the archives for any last contenders for the space and couldn’t believe it when of ALL artists, the lyric that resonated with me most was this one…and it was by none other than Mr. Smalls, himself. I love the words because they encompass so much of how Page and I try to live our lives, but even more because of the source – totally unexpected and quirky to have rap on your suburban wall. 🙂

I worked with a fabulous Etsy artistan to bring this to life. I had seen her amazing wall decals before and contacted her about designing this one myself and paying her to print it for me. Danielle is super nice to work with and I am so impressed with the quality of her products. Because of the uber-thin font I chose for this one, I had to be very patient and meticulous (a stretch for me – it took me over a half hour to get it all applied!) but in the end, I think it’s the thin font that gives it the perfect amount of blending and standing out, all at once. It looks black in photos but is actually the dark charcoal color – perfect on top of our light grey walls. I knew I had to contend with the light switch on the left side of the wall, so I right-justified the font to avoid the switch altogether. I love the way it lines up with the edge of the wall coming around the corner. I initially thought I’d make this much bigger, but something was telling me to restrain a bit and not go too scary-big. I also originally laid the quote out with all of the punctuation, including putting the last line in quotation marks, but decided it was too distracting. In the end, I’m so happy I went with my gut on those two things – always helpful to lay something out, then walk away for a bit and re-visit it later with a fresh set of eyes.

I think Page was floored that I actually got on board with using lines from a hip hop song, but if I’ve learned anything while pulling our first home together, it’s to take some risks…and this one totally paid off!

Now that we’ve been unpacked and settled in our house for a few weeks, we’re ready to disrupt the peace with our first house project…built-in bookcases!

We are really excited to add a little architectural interest in the living room, and more than anything – more storage! Plus it will be cool to know we’ve added our own mark in this room with something we did ourselves.

Because the floors are floating, Page will have to actually cut into them (trying not to think about that) to place the bases for the bookcases, otherwise over time, the weight of the bookcases would warp our floors. We’ve picked out some pre-built, unfinished cabinets for the bases (helllloooo storage!) and then Page will build shelves on top of those, and frame it all in with some molding to match the existing baseboards. As for me, I have the job of priming and painting all the pieces.

Here are our cabinets, in our basement, in all their “before” oak-colored glory….

They will go on either side of the fireplace on this wall, go up to the ceiling, and the width will stop short of the speakers.

Wish us luck! 🙂

From the beginning, I knew my office would be what I deemed Manolo blue. And so, I began to gather some fun items to start pulling it together.

Several blue accents, but overall I love the clean, white workspace…

So glad I went with the “small” version of this light – it was much bigger in person than I had imagined, but I love it and it looks cool both in the day…

…and at night (especially from outside!)

The last items I need to add are this Ikea chair and ottoman that wouldn’t fit in the car during our last furniture excursion to Mecca. In the meantime, I’ve looked elsewhere but can’t find anything I love as much, and for this price point, which I’m pretty tied to considering it’s just an occasional reading spot and not a daily use living room piece. So far, I love working in here and am looking for any excuse to go to a city with an Ikea to finish this room up! 🙂

A few weeks back, I posted about some upcoming guests and our desire to get the guest room together in time for their arrival. As you can see in this before pic, we had not accomplished – well – anything, as of a couple weeks post-move-in.

So we moved out all the random stuff we had been storing in here, and up the curtains went and in moved the red hutch (previously in our townhouse kitchen). A mirror went on the wall, and a lamp I had victimized with my white lacquer spray paint phase earlier this fall set up shop as well.

We had a new bed delivered and I ordered a comforter and bedskirt from O.co and bedding from my true love for all things housewares, West Elm. The room was functional by the time our guests arrived mid-January.

Unfortunately, my favorite thing for this room didn’t get here in time for our guests and a few weeks later, my mom came and stayed and bless her for helping me with this much-needed bit of character in the room. The room is the smallest of our bedrooms (since it is the least used) so we didn’t want to spend big bucks on a headboard, nor did we want to take up valuable inches with one. The solution? An awesome red headboard wall decal from Blik.

Get it level…(with the help of the iPhone – there really is an app for everything!)

Smooth it out…

…and admire!

Ta da! Love the character it brings to the room, and I couldn’t have asked it to match any closer with the repurposed red hutch (which you will notice still has our wine glass racks beneath…someday we’ll get those hung elsewhere!)

Might not hurt to steam some of that bedding, either. Just keepin’ it real. 🙂

I still want to do something fun with the lamp base, add at least one end table, and get some art up on the walls, but for now I’m happy that progress has been made!

Over a year ago, I set out to design a photo wall. After going back and forth on several ideas, I decided to do all Ikea Ribba frames in white and created the above arrangement on my computer to get a feel for how I wanted to arrange it. Then, we decided to start looking for a house and given that the frames are “less than easy” to hang, they went right into a moving box for several weeks until now. I ordered my prints from scrapbookpictures.com  – I love the quality of prints for the price, and that they offer all of the unusual sizes I needed for these frames. I highly recommend them!

I knew from day one when we looked at this floor plan, that I wanted the photo wall to go on the entry hall wall between the front door and the kitchen. Here are a couple of before shots to give an idea of the space…

With the frames purchased, the prints inserted, and a wall and a plan, I got to work.

I just happened across this pin on Pinterest and it was a HUGE help. The idea is to drill a screw into the end of a paint stick, then hang your frame on the paint stick as you position it on the wall. When it’s exactly where you want it, lightly press on the frame so the screw behind it makes a small hole in the wall. Use this hole as your guide to place the hanging nail. Especially when you’re trying to perfectly line up a bunch of frames hung with wire, this tool was invaluable. We ended up using our new paint stick tool for a variety of projects around the house as we settled in.

And here is the finished wall! The only bad thing about its location is the lack of a good angle to get a “finished” photo. So here’s a glimpse coming in the door, and a couple segmented shots from inside the powder room…but you get the idea, right? 🙂